Comments on: Big Black Dog Syndrome

By: Kerri

Kerri — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:31:37 +0000

Exactly, Linda. Jonathon is a lucky guy and you’re lucky to have found him! Thanks for visiting and commenting.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:58:51 +0000

I rescued my BBD Jonathon, a lab-Golden mix, from Homeward Bound Golden Retriever rescue in CA. He is the best dog ever! I tell him that everyday! Gentle as can be! Humans can learn from dogs. They don’t judge you on your color, they just love!

By: Kerri Rescue Me

Kerri Rescue Me — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:41:56 +0000

Have no idea what’s going on there, Brent, but they are a gassing facility as well.

By: Brent

Brent — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:35:23 +0000

I’ve not seen anyone claiming 2-3 million. Most estimates I’m seeing now are around 4-4.5 million (the No Kill Advocacy Center, Maddies Fund and HSUS are all in this neighborhood). Still too many, but definitely better than the 10 million a decade ago.

Seems as if ‘pit bulls’ and feral cats are the majority of it and many of their problems are fixable with some law and policy changes.

The Joplin situation is a mess. I have no idea how they are impounding so many animals down there.

By: Kerri Rescue Me

Kerri Rescue Me — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:12:55 +0000

And it’s a good thing to be dubious, especially as a writer. Thanks for the input, Brent. I think we have to take into consideration these are best guess estimates. Actually, I believe the number of pets killed in shelters is much higher than the estimates I’m seeing. When I wrote my first story on puppy mills in 2000, I got a figure of 10 million. A decade later, I think it’s the HSUS estimating 2-3 million. I know we’ve come a long way. There’s more awareness, more rescues pulling animals. But still, I see literally hundreds of pets on my feed every single day in kill shelters on the the “euth” list. I saw a number close to 800 killed in the Joplin, Mo. shelter just in the month of June. No back up for the data, except that it was posted by a rescue pulling from that shelter begging people to help pull some of the dogs. Whatever the real numbers are, it’s still too many. Thanks for reading and engaging in the conversation!

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:59:54 +0000

I’m not saying it isn’t true – but I’d sure love to see some real data on it. There always seem to be a lot of commonly held beliefs in sheltering that are passed on from person-to-person with little to no data that actually backs it up. Is it possible they FEEL this way because it seems like there are always BBDs there?

I’ve seen the 1 in 600 pits numbers as well — but never seen any supporting evidence for it. It seems mathematically impossible. Figure that on an annual basis about 800,000 pit bulls are killed in shelters — so if that 1 in 600 number is correct, then that would mean on average every shelter in the entire nation would only place 1,333 pit bulls into forever homes — that doesn’t sound like it’s even in the ballpark of the right number.

Again, not saying it’s right or wrong, but I’ve heard a lot of these things over the years and most don’t seem to be based on anything more substantial than I heard it from someone else.

By: Kerri Rescue Me

Kerri Rescue Me — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:55:15 +0000

There are a lot of BBDs in the world and in the shelters, Brent. So, yes, part of the issue is the shear numbers anyway. However, I’ve interviewed dozens of shelter directors and probably hundreds of rescues over the years and they’ve all told me the same thing, when a BBD is in a shelter, they have the least likely chance of coming out alive. As for the pits, I saw an astonishing stat last week. Only 1 in 600 pits find a lasting home that will keep them the rest of their lives. Again, sheer numbers in what is available. There is still a HUGE perception out there that pit bulls are menacing, man eating beasts. When they end up in the shelter, especially, people do not want to take the chance not knowing the background. People need to adopt, not shop.

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:55:32 +0000

I’m still not sure I buy into the idea of Big Black dog syndrome. I’ve heard about it all the time — the idea that people don’t want to adopt big black dogs.

But here’s the thing, the most popular type of owned dog in the U.S. for nearly 20 years has been the Labrador Retriever — who’s most common color is black. If nobody wants big black dogs, why is a big black dog (and sometimes gold or chocolate) the most popular dog in America?

I still can’t help but think that one of the reasons there are so many BBDs at the shelter is because there are so many of them to start with. Incidentally, as someone who does pit bull rescue, I often hear that people don’t want to adopt pit bulls — and yet, they’re generally recognized as the 2nd most popularly owned dog in the U.S. So if no one wants them, why do so many people have them?

It doesn’t quite add up to me…and I can’t help but think we’re marketing them all wrong.

By: sharonwaldrop

sharonwaldrop — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:36:30 +0000

Kerri – We have the same problem here in our somewhat uncivilized rural area. There is an abundance of big black dogs at our local humane societies. It breaks my heart. Bless you — and the others — for the work you are doing to help them.

By: Kerri Rescue Me

Kerri Rescue Me — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:15:08 +0000

Shoshannah,
A black is beautiful event is a great idea! I hope some shelters adopt that event!
As for the brindle dogs, I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of there being a stigma surrounding brindle dogs, but that’s interesting. I’ll have to look into that.